


uneasy lies the head

by closingdoors



Series: The P.P. Phone Series [2]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Drabble, EDITH - Freeform, Gen, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie) Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 14:12:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19769881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/closingdoors/pseuds/closingdoors
Summary: "You've reached the voicemail of Tony Stark." His voice is loud and breezy and Peter almost cries there and then. "Leave a message and I'll happily ignore it."Spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home.





	uneasy lies the head

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. 

**Shakespeare**

* * *

In the aftermath, Peter takes a moment to bask in relief. He sits, legs swinging off the side of Tower Bridge, watching ambulance and fire crews arrive to sort out the mess.

"Peter," EDITH says, "Happy Hogan is on the phone for you."

"Tell him I'll be there in a minute," Peter says, turning his attention to the Thames.

The river is large and wide and deeply, deeply grey. He doesn't want to spare a thought on how polluted it is - especially now he's added a bunch of drones to it. However it's sort of beautiful. Especially when he sees people walking along the embankment continuing with their lives. Safe now. 

"EDITH?"

"Yes, Peter?" 

He clears his throat. "Can you, uh, can you call Mr Stark for me?" 

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Peter. Tony Stark is dead." 

"I know but uh - his uh, his number's still active, right?" 

_Please say yes,_ he thinks, because he's not quite sure what he'll do if the AI says _no._

"Calling now."

Peter breathes a sigh of relief, wringing his mask between his hands. The dial tone picks up. 

There used to be a time - longer than he thinks he'll ever be able to wrap his head around - when he didn't doubt that Mr Stark would pick up on the other side. But now... now Mr Stark is gone. He left behind a wife and a daughter. And Happy. But God, what Peter wouldn't do to hear him one last time. 

"You've reached the voicemail of Tony Stark." His voice is loud and breezy and Peter almost cries there and then. "Leave a message and I'll happily ignore it." 

Peter begins the voicemail choking on tears. He wants to laugh because _yeah,_ that's Mr Stark alright. But then he's hit once again by the fact that these jokes are old. That he'll never hear a new voicemail message. 

"I'm sorry," he mumbles hoarsely, wiping at his tears. "Sorry, I didn't want to start this - I just wanted to - "

Peter turns his face up to the sky. It's a drizzly grey too, even though the elemental illusions are gone now. That's England, he supposes, as he takes a deep breath. He wonders what Mr Stark thought of London. There's so much about him he'll never know.

"Hey, Mr Stark," he starts again, voice a little steadier. "You'll never guess what happened to me today. I know you'd freak if you found out I gave Mr Beck the glasses, but that's okay because he's - well, I uh - he's... he's gone now. But I'm alright, you know? And I got my - my sort of sixth sense back, which is, well, that's pretty great, I've gotta be honest with you. May even managed to hit me with a banana because I didn't have that." 

Below him, the crews are starting to upright the flipped cars.

He can see the double decker tour bus he was on with his classmates; its bright red a little charred now. He can see the spot he'd kissed MJ, too.

"I guess I just - I just didn't want that pressure, you know? I thought everyone wanted me to be _you_ and that's not, uh, that's not something I think I'll ever be able to do. I thought Mr Beck was looking out for me, you know? I thought he was like you," Peter sighs, screwing his eyes shut. "Stupid, right? No-one's like you." 

A pigeon settles next to Peter, cooing softly. He leans back. 

"I think I'm gonna be better from now on. I've got Happy looking out for me and I think I've made progress with Fury. I've even - there's this girl, MJ, and she's... well, I really like her, and she knows I'm Spider-Man, and she kissed me, so that's - well, that's probably the best thing to have happened on this trip. I wish you could've met her. I think you would've gotten along. She's _so_ funny and she just knows all this stuff that I wouldn't think to read up about and she's - she's real pretty. Yeah. Real pretty."

He can't help but smile as he thinks about MJ. He wonders if Tony can hear it in his voice. He wonders if there is an afterlife Tony can hear him from, or if the life he'd had was all he'd been given. The latter makes his face screw up again but he breathes though the pain. 

"I really wish you were here," he admits quietly, "because half the time I don't know if I'm doing anything right. I know I said I was ready for all this but I just - I was ready for it if you were here. And now you're not. Mr Beck said there was a multiverse and I hoped -" 

Peter sighs, shaking his head and lifting himself to stand. The wind buffets against him but it's been a long time since he was scared of falling. 

After all, Mr Stark had put precautions in his suit.

"I'm gonna keep looking out for the little guy. That's who I am. And if Fury needs me sometimes, then, you know, I'll do it. It's what you'd do. And I'm not supposed to be you - you wanted me to be better. And I think I will be, Mr Stark."

Peter slips his mask back on, takes a deep breath, and leaps from Tower Bridge. The wind rushes loudly in his ears.

"I think I will be," he repeats, just as the wings pop out to catch him.

* * *

Once he's back in the car with May, he turns his phone back on, intent on arranging a date with MJ. There's so many things he wants to do with her now that she knows he's Spider-Man; he doesn't know where to begin.

There's a notification from Miss Potts on his lockscreen. He swipes it open with sweaty fingers.

_He'd be really proud of you, Peter._

Peter smiles, leaning his head back against the seat. 

Yeah. He thinks he would be, too.


End file.
